Apple recently announced that it will bump retail store wages up to 25 percent next month

Apple is looking to boost employee morale by increasing retail store wages and even offering an employee discount program on certain Apple gadgets.

Apple recently announced that it would bump retail store wages up to 25 percent next month. Over the past two weeks, store managers informed employees of the raises, and as expected, the news was well taken.

The raises came after an internal review and accelerated performance review, both of which were conducted by head of Apple retail John Browett. It was discovered that wage levels were the chief complaint of most employees. It was even noted that one particular Apple store had a nearby Microsoft store hiring its employees for better pay and bonuses.

Twenty-five percent is pretty huge for Apple, considering it usually only offers 2 to 5 percent raises annually.

Apple isn't stopping at higher wages, though. To ensure that Microsoft and other competitors don't continue poaching its employees, Apple is also launching a program that allows employees to take advantage of discounts on certain Apple gadgets.

Apple employees will now be able to receive $250 off of iPads and $500 off of select MacBook models. What's more is that these discounts are added on top of the normal 25 percent discount that Apple employees usually receive.

However, Mac minis and MacBook Pros with Retina display are excluded from the discount program. Also, an employee must be hired for 90 days in order to use the discount and the discount can only be used once every three years.

The Onion is reporting that APPL has renegotiated terms with Foxconn and has seemingly reduced direct labor costs by 25% to offset the recent increase of retail expense. Foxconn has admitted increased efficiency through the workforce management tool, "The Whip", and a slight reduction of overhead by providing employees a bucket to shit in.

When asked about the savings, John Browett, Apple Senior VP of Retail, stated: "better them then us".

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